1. Field of Invention
This invention is related to a thermosetting material and, more particularly, to a shape memory thermosetting epoxy.
2. Description of the Related Art
Epoxy became popular in commercial use in 1950. Epoxy was commonly used to spray on circuit boards and electronic components because epoxy has stable material properties. Chemical bonds of epoxy like epoxide groups, amino group and hydroxyl group were linked into a rigid 2-D or 3-D structures in curing processes, so that epoxy became more stable and resistible.
The first material being known to have shape memory properties is shape memory metal alloy (SMA) discovered by Chang et al. in 1952. TiNi (Nitinol), CuZnAI and FeNiAI alloys are three major type of SMAs. These materials have been proposed for various uses in aeronautical, electronic and mechanical industries. SMAs were limited to be used on specific products because of high cost issues. A shape memory polymer (SMP) has been successfully developed and widely used because of lower costs and of being easier for production. Polyvinyl methyl ether (PVME), polyvinyl acetate (PVA), 1,4-trans polyisoprene (TPI), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) and polyurethane (TPU) are some of SMPs being discovered. The above mention of SMP still can't be widely used in industry because of weak intensity and rigidity.